Still Here
by Tmae3114
Summary: The wind whips past. He can feel tears leaking from his eyes, but he feels lighter than he has in a long time. Images flicker past his closed eyes, and he thinks for what must be the last time 'goodbye' and 'thank you'. He hits the core. He does not expect to wake up again. He doesn't know what he expected but it certainly wasn't to wake up. A Tomix Saga Finale Fix-fic.


**Alternate Title: In Which I Write A Fix-It With A Cheesy Title Because The Finale Was All Kinds Of Emotional Nope**

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><p>The wind, or whatever passes for wind here, whips past. He can feel tears leaking from his eyes, but he feels lighter than he has in a long time. Images flicker past his closed eyes, and he thinks for what must be the last time <em>goodbye<em> and _thank you._

He hits the core.

* * *

><p>He does not expect to wake up again.<p>

He doesn't know what he expected, to be honest. But it certainly wasn't to wake up.

At least…he thinks he woke up.

_Where…am I?_

The world around him feels…different. He moves to…do something, but can't. He can't feel his body at all. There's _something_ there, but it doesn't feel like his body. The entire experience is bizarre and doesn't feel unlike when he ventured into the Elemental Spirit Plane to find Pandora after Aspar disappeared.

Is that where he is now?

**_Hello._**

He starts. Or…would have started. This is strange.

The figure that spoke is…odd. White and glowing, and a body of a shape that bears an eerie similarity to Greed during that mess in Falconreach that led to his meeting the hero.

The hero…

He hopes they are okay. Everybody on the ship. He hopes they made it out of the Void safely.

**_They are safe, I assure you._**

There is the voice again. The figure is still in front of him, watching expectantly.

_Who are you?_

**_I am the Codex._**

The Codex? It feels as though it should ring a bell but for the life of him –_ouch, poor wording_ – he cannot figure out how.

_Why are you here? Where is here?_ These are the best questions he can think to ask.

**_This is Ynnungaap. I am not truly here. This is a projection of my form, which rests in the Temple of Òtar; the place where you fought the one called Aspar._**

_Then…why is your projection here?_

**_Because it is my duty to be here, as it has always been._**

_Your duty?_

**_The job assigned me by the Gathering of Five. To help the people attune with the Core, and to guard it._**

_What does that have to do with me?_

There is a persistent _pulsing_ in the back of his mind, calling for his attention. He is confused and just wants _answers_ for whatever is going on. But however much he wants them, he has a feeling that he isn't going to like whatever comes next.

**_It has everything to do with you._**

He really, really doesn't think he is going to like what is coming next.

**_You ARE the Core now._**

He was right.

* * *

><p>Ynnungaap is silent. The denizens of the void go about their business but not one goes near the Deep Void.<p>

He can _feel_ the Void. That pulsing on the first day never faded and through the Codex he now knows what it is. It is the Void itself, as though a living entity. It technically is, now, he supposes.

* * *

><p><em>I'm the Core? How?<em>

**_The one called Aspar was absorbing the Core, learning to manipulate it through a connection with the Codex-_**

_Which you gave him, I assume? How can I trust you if you helped him?_

**_He told the truth about his wishes, and therefore was seen as just._**

_'Was seen as?' Is he not any longer?_

**_You are the Core. You did not see his actions as just, and so neither do I._**

* * *

><p>He closes his eyes – or, does the equivalent, considering that he is currently a massive, shifting blob of pure void energy.<p>

* * *

><p><em>You still have not answered my question. How am I the Core?<em>

**_The one called Aspar had almost completed his wish to absorb the Core. You interfered and so it began to destabilise. When you fell, you fell into the Core._**

_And it, what, absorbed me to stabilise itself?_

**_Somewhat. You dissolved into it. You absorbed the Core as much as it absorbed you. The Core was not truly alive, and so you became it._**

* * *

><p>He imagines himself getting smaller, because that is what he must do. Become smaller, change shape. He needs silence and concentration to master this and that is exactly what he has.<p>

The creatures of the void will not come here. He told them not to.

* * *

><p><em>You said that they- that my friends are safe. How do you know?<em>

**_Their ship had safe passage out of the Deep Void. The void has withdrawn from the place called Ravenloss. I know because I was connected to the core when these things occurred._**

_Why…_

**_Did the void withdraw? Because you told it to._**

_I didn't…_

**_You were not yet aware, but you wanted to protect them and the void complied._**

* * *

><p>He doesn't know how long it's been since that day, but he knows that the longer this takes, the harder it will be.<p>

They've probably already had his funeral.

* * *

><p><em>What…what about Pandora?<em>

**_I do not know._**

* * *

><p>But he <em>will<em> learn this. He will learn this, master it, and see them again. He will have to maintain the void, but he will be able to see them again. His family. His friends.

He feels something…shift. He focuses harder and then, like a gust of wind, there is a roar and he finds himself stumbling – actually stumbling, with feet and legs and everything, not just the _feeling_ of doing so – and slamming his hands against the ground to stop himself landing face first.

* * *

><p><em>Am I stuck here forever then? Is that what happens now?<em>

**_Perhaps. Or perhaps I could help you._**

_Help me…what?_

**_To see them again._**

* * *

><p>He stays like that for a few moments, on all fours and breathing heavily. Then he pushes himself up and flops backwards, so that he is sitting, legs splayed out in front of him.<p>

He moves a hand into his line of vision and feels a smile breaking out across his face. He's looking at a _hand_ and it's _his_ hand and it looks like an actual hand, not the kind he's had for the past years.

Just to test if it has _really_ worked, he picks up a pebble. Then he tosses it up and down a few times.

Then he throws it at the giant purple blob he can see out of the corner of his eye.

He winces as it impacts, and his hand goes to the opposite shoulder. _Ow._ Okay, bad idea.

But still, he has _hands_ and they _work._ He looks down at his legs and runs his hands across them. They're really there too. The hands move to his face and he lets out a laugh of delight as _that _works too.

He _did it._ He really _did it._ It had taken what felt like forever, but he figured out what the Codex had tried to teach him and he had a proper body again. A body made of void energy, admittedly, but a body all the same.

"Yes!" he cries, throwing his arms up into the air, before pulling them back down to stop himself falling backwards. Then his smile grows all the wider and he finds himself moments away from _giggling, _of all things, because that is the first time he's been able to _speak_ since it happened and he has _vocal cords again_ and…

He wonders what he looks like. His arms and legs look normal enough, but it would be nice to see what he looks like fully.

There is a _shing_ and suddenly a wall has sprung up beside him. It is made of the same purple crystals that they had seen all over the void, but it is flat, smooth and apparently polished to a high degree. It's reflective.

A mirror.

_Okay, that's a little odd._

But he's supposed to be the Core now, and the void creatures had listened to him and left this place alone and supposedly the void had retreated from Ravenloss because he wanted it to, so maybe it isn't _that_ odd?

He moves to stand, pushing himself off the ground onto one knee, and then pulls the other up so that he is kneeling. Then, slowly because he's not used to actually having a body again yet, he stands.

Just as he straightens completely, his legs feel weak and he almost, _almost_ falls.

The only reason he doesn't is because the moment he starts to tilt, a support _rushes_ up from the floor and plants itself under his hand, morphing to shape as he grips it to prevent himself from ending up on the ground again.

He stares at it, decides that _I'm going to have to get control of that eventually_ and then turns to look at the mirror.

He doesn't look all that different, but one thing immediately pulls his attention. He looks almost exactly the same as he remembers, but his hair looks like it's _red._ It's hard to tell in the purple-tinted reflection of the crystal-mirror…which has just turned silver.

_Okay. __**Really**__ need to learn how to control that._

The new colour gives him a much clearer reflection though. His hair _is_ red again, which is odd to see now, after it's being white for so long. He isn't wearing his coat either.

Actually, he isn't wearing any clothes that he recognises. The trousers are similar to his old ones, black in colour, but the shirt…not so much.

Actually, 'shirt' might be the wrong word. It seemed more like a tunic, a deep purple tunic with spattering of other colours against it, with sleeves ending just around his elbows and the rest ending just above his knees, edges looking slightly ragged.

Well…the whole void core thing had to show itself in _some_ way, he supposes. At least it's just a shirt. Tunic. Whatever.

He notices something else. His eyes are still the yellow-orange-gold they had changed to, evidently not having reverted to their original colour the way his hair has. Still, that may be for the best, the colour would be more familiar to his friends than the original, and convincing them he's alive will probably not be easy. The change of hair could be helpful with his family.

His _family_. His _friends._

He takes a step forwards, turning away from the mirror. Then another, and another, and another. Before he knows it he's running, arms pumping and heart pounding and excitement coursing through his veins.

He's _alive._ He's _alive_ and the Corrupted Elemental Spirits are _gone_ and he _won_ and…and…and…

And he's _free. _He's finally, _finally_ free!

He hits the end of the platform surrounding the Core but doesn't slow down the least. A slight shimmer appears beneath his feet as he thinks _I need a path_ and then a pinkish-purple path is stretching out in front of him.

He flings his arms wide, spins in a circle, new tunic fluttering, and lets out a bellowing, echoing, triumphant _laugh._

He practically dances the rest of the way.

* * *

><p>Pellow Village is exactly as he remembers it, but for the fact that it no longer feels quite so…creepy. The background energy that had once seemed so stifling and chocking now <em>sings<em> in his senses. Another side effect of the void core thing probably.

He strides up to the Equilibrium Gate with purpose in his steps. He presses both hands to it, closes his eyes and leans forwards, reaching, sensing, for something in particular.

There's no void on the other side, just as the Codex had said. The gate will not open, but he doesn't need it to.

He stretches further, _further_ until finally…

_There!_

A slightly twinge of void, a leftover from too much time around it and no protection.

_Izaac?_ He calls. He tries not to be too loud or too sudden. The last thing he needs is to scare his friend, or to make him think he's hallucinating.

_Izaac?_

* * *

><p><em>Izaac?<em>

He freezes. He's standing outside the Ravenloss Orphanage and he's hearing Tomix's voice. At first he thinks he's going crazy, that the void cracking across his face is finally getting to him, and then it comes again.

_Izaac?_

It sounds like Tomix, but it _can't_ be Tomix because Tomix is…Tomix is…

It can't be Tomix.

_Izaac, can you hear me?_

But what if? Something whispers in the back of his mind. What if it is?

_Tomix?_ It's a tentative thought and he isn't sure if this is just going to make it worse.

_Izaac! Listen, you might want to hold onto something. And this might hurt a bit._

_What?_

And then the void across his face starts stinging and the vision in the eye it covers goes blurry. He hisses in surprise and stumbles, one arm coming up to lean on the wall beside the door, the other coming up to cover the side of his face that now feels like it's _burning._ He curls into the wall and then, just as quickly as it started, it stops.

"Izaac?"

He looks up and blinks. And then blinks again. Then the arm covering half his face comes down, he shifts so that he's just leaning with his back against the wall and _stares._

Tomix, _Tomix,_ is standing in front of him, staring right back, face an image of concern. His hair is as red as he can remember it being when they were younger but his eyes are still golden. He's wearing a _tunic_ of all things, a tunic that looks like the _void_.

"I'm hallucinating, aren't I?"

The illusionary – this _must_ be some kind of hallucination – Tomix looks uncomfortable and shuffles a foot.

"Uh…no. No, you aren't,"

"I must be,"

"You aren't. It's kind of a long story, but I'm alive. I think. It's complicated,"

And then Riadne steps out of the door.

She freezes, just like he had, and _stares._

"Tomix?" she asks, voice barely a whisper.

Izaac's head whips round, and then looks between the two redheads.

"You can see him too?" he asks, before realising that must mean…

"You're actually here,"

Tomix nods and Izaac moves to step forwards, to do what, he doesn't know. But Riadne beats him to it. Before he can even _blink_ she's there, standing in front of Tomix.

_Whup-CRACK_

"That," she says, withdrawing her hand as Tomix raises his to a stinging cheek. "is for taking _so long_ to let us know you were alive,"

Tomix opens his mouth as though to say something, but then she hugs him.

"This," she says, squeezing just a bit tighter. "is for _being_ alive,"

It takes only a moment for Izaac to join the two, wrapping his arms around his best friend and his girlfriend; a deep, heavy grief that had been so settled in his heart he'd gotten used to the weight lifting as he realises that Tomix is really, _really_ here.

"So…how? And where have you _been?"_ he asks when they pull away.

Tomix gives him a grin that seems an equal mix of sheepish and mischievous; Izaac barely has a second to register how _right_ the smile is on his friend's face before all other thoughts are wiped away by the answer.

"Would you believe me if I said I accidently merged with and became the void core, and spent the last however long learning how to manifest a physical form?"

It says something about their lives that he doesn't doubt him for a second.


End file.
